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2009 Rock ‘n Roll Hall of Fame Nominees Announced: Let the Haughty Whining Begin!

Sep 232008

The Rock ‘n Roll Hall of Fame has announced its nominees for possible induction in 2009. A lucky 5 of the following will be elected by more than 500 voters:

Jeff Beck
Chic
Wanda Jackson
Little Anthony and the Imperials
Metallica
Run-D.M.C.
The Stooges
War
Bobby Womack

I know you’re excited!

Those of you who’ve bitched about the exclusion of The Stooges, will you be happy if they’re finally inducted?

Those of you who have felt that disco and other forms of dance music have been overlooked, is the induction of Chic your key hope for the Class of 2009?

Fans of Jeff Beck, who’s already in the HoF as part of The Yardbirds, do you even scratch your head and say Huh?

Will Metallica’s therapist be recognized as part of the band’s inevitable induction ceremony?

I can tell you that Mr. Mod’s main concern and rooting interest is whether War, if elected for induction, will also recognize its Eric Burdon and War roots.

Previously: Rock Town Hall Interviews the Rock ‘n Roll Hall of Fame’s Curator.

Is There a Drummer in the House: Earl Palmer Has Left the Building

Posted by Mr. Moderator

Sep 222008

Little Richard, “Keep a Knockin'”

From The Times-Picayune:

Earl Palmer, the New Orleans drummer who largely defined the beat of rock ‘n’ roll on thousands of recordings from the late 1940s on, died Friday in Los Angeles after a long illness. He was 83.

Dapper and outspoken, Mr. Palmer may well have been the most recorded drummer in the history of popular music. He stamped his sound on everything from early Fats Domino and Little Richard hits to classic movie soundtracks to music for “The Flintstones” cartoon.

“He was my right hand,” said Dave Bartholomew, the producer and co-writer of Domino’s catalog. “He was a professor of music. (With Mr. Palmer’s passing,) it’s like I died myself.”

Here’s a cool multi-part piece on the drumming of Earl Palmer: Part 1, Part 2.

Norman Whitfield Permanently Stationed on Cloud Nine

Posted by Mr. Moderator

Sep 182008

Norman Whitfield, the producer-songwriter most responsible for dragging Motown into the second half of the 1960s and making the label’s music at least tolerable for the whitest of rock fans, has died. Despite my poke at those of you who fail to dig the beauty of the earlier model of Motown’s output, I love Whitfield’s work. Come on, you Rockist lunkheads, for Norman’s sake go back and learn to dig the earlier stuff too!

From The Guardian:

Whitfield’s big chance came when Holland-Dozier-Holland stormed out of Motown in early 1968 in a row over profit-sharing. Inspired by Sly and the Family Stone’s wild arrangements, he wrote the hard-driving, socially aware Cloud Nine with lyricist Barrett Strong (who is himself currently recovering from a stroke) for the Temptations. Despite Gordy’s reservations over its perceived pro-drug message, it changed Motown overnight. Suddenly, topical comment and audacious psychedelic arrangements were on the agenda, and Whitfield-Strong were on a roll: Ball of Confusion, Papa Was a Rollin’ Stone, War and Smilin’ Faces Sometimes all smouldered with tension and paranoia befitting the era of Vietnam, Nixon and the Black Panthers. War actually sounds like war; Ball of Confusion is indeed a ball of confusion.

Richard Wright Joins Keyboard Section in The Great Gig In The Sky

Posted by sammymaudlin

Sep 152008

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LONDON — A Pink Floyd spokesman says founding member Richard Wright has died. He was 65.

Wright died Monday after a battle with cancer at his home in Britain. His family did not want to give more details about his death. The spokesman is Doug Wright, who is not related to the artist.

Richard Wright met Pink Floyd members Roger Waters and Nick Mason at college and joined their early band Sigma 6.

Sigma 6 eventually became Pink Floyd and Wright wrote and sang some of the band’s key songs. He wrote “The Great Gig In The Sky” and “Us And Them” from Pink Floyd’s 1973 “The Dark Side Of The Moon.”

He left the group in the early 1980s to form his own band but rejoined Pink Floyd for their 1987 album “A Momentary Lapse of Reason.”

Oh, ‘bama!

Posted by Mr. Moderator

Sep 032008

The surviving members of The Grateful Dead will reunite for a show to support the Barack Obama campaign for President. Then they will most likely schedule a full tour to cash in on this opportunity.

After having failed to rally the support of Thin White Duke-era Bowie and further establish his credibility as a cokehead, his campaign staffers decided to field repeated calls from Phil Lesh. “If I’m going to be the agent of change,” Obama is reported to have told campaign manager David Axelrod, “what better than gaining the full support of the poster band for mind expansion?”

Axelrod, a longtime Deadhead, concurred, and reached out to former Jimmy Carter supporters, The Allman Brothers, to open the show.

Heavy metal thunder!

John McCain, meanwhile, has been discussing with running mate Sarah Palin the possibility of gaining the backing of The Doobie Brothers. “I’m more of a Steppenwolf fan myself,” said McCain, “but I worry that voters may read the lyrics of ‘The Pusher’ the wrong way.”

Recently.

Multi-Untalented Jerry Reed Dies

Posted by Mr. Moderator

Sep 022008

Multi-untalented singer-songwriter-actor Jerry Reed, best known for pickin’ and grinnin’ his way through some kitschy country-rock singles and trucker movies of the 1970s–frequently riding shotgun with Burt Reynolds–of died of complications from emphysema at age 71.

Among the things I’ll remember most about Reed are his awesome jawline (damn, that guy could grin) and the way his crumpled cowboy hat was always perched on his head just so.

Has anyone in movie history ever ridden shotgun with as much aplomb as Jerry Reed? To avoid confusion and give the man the respect his work was due, let’s be clear that in American Graffiti it’s not Reed who befriends/terrorizes Richard Dreyfus’ character as a member of the Pharoahs but Bo Hopkins, a one-dimensionally limited character actor who looked a bit like Reed and probably battled him for grinnin’ good ole boy roles.

A typical Reed novelty number.

On Scooby Doo.

With recent RTH hero Glen Campbell–perhaps there’s hope for restoring Jerry’s legacy.

Olympic Rock News

Posted by sammymaudlin

Aug 212008

AP: Olympic Rock News

By STEPHANIE ZACHAREK
Published: August 22, 2008

In was announced earlier this morning that the International Olympic Committee will investigate whether the Chinese women’s gymnastics team that won the gold medal had underage athletes. IOC spokeswoman Giselle Davies said “There certainly seems to be a lot of scantily clad pre-teen Chinese girls strutting around the Bird’s Nest these days.”

Within seemingly minutes Led Zeppelin guitarist Jimmy Page announced that he will be playing The Olympic Closing Ceremony in the Bird’s Nest on Sunday. A publicist for Gary Glitter said that Gary is “distressed” that he won’t be able to participate due to a prior booking.

More here.

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